Boro boss Steve McClaren will lay down his shotgun and pick up a rifle as he attempts to add Sean Davis and Gaizka Mendieta to his squad.

McClaren has endured a difficult summer as his transfer targets, one by one, have gone elsewhere.

Boro face a battle with Everton to land #5m-rated Davis after both clubs had undisclosed bids accepted, while two Spanish sides are threatening to scupper their hopes of landing Lazio star Mendieta.

But as he prepared his injury-hit side for today's Premiership opener at Fulham, McClaren vowed to continue his pursuit of the one or two key signings he believes can help Boro take the next step.

"What we've done over the past two years is put our house in order financially," he said.

"We've had a cap on wages, we've made sure the players we've brought in were of a profile in which they could contribute for the next three or four years, they were young, they were talented, they had resale value.

"We've done that and that's the kind of profile, that's the kind of player, we want to bring into this football club.

"That does then restrict us in the type of player that we're trying to attract. But on the other hand, if we want to challenge for Europe, if we want to go forward, we have to attract special players, players that can make a difference.

"In the last two years, we've built a platform financially, squad-wise and we've spent over #30m doing that. We used a shotgun approach then, but now we need to use a rifle.

"The next two, three, four years, that team will stay together, so we're really looking to tweak; one or two special players who will make a difference, who will get us those extra two or three places that will get us challenging for Europe. We are restricted purely because we're building at the present moment and we're mid-table.

"We're not in Europe yet, and some of the players we want to attract, they're getting offers which financially may be better. They're getting offers from clubs who are already in Europe and European football is an attraction." David Dunn, Trevor Sinclair, Brett Emerton, Flavio Conceicao and Stephane Dalmat have all escaped Boro's clutches during the summer, although the Teessiders insist they have not been snubbed by any of them, and are hopeful of landing Davis. "At the present moment, I can't really say anything," McClaren said. "It's still up in the air and negotiations at this stage are still on-going.

"We've had a bid accepted by Fulham, so that shows we're interested in the player and want to bring him here. I stated that a week ago and that hasn't changed."

Ironically, Boro open their campaign against the club whose prize asset they are desperately trying capture, and head south with injuries and suspension exposing the lack of depth in their squad. Ugo Ehiogu and David Murphy are long-term absentees, while Franck Queudrue is suspended for the first five games of the season.